A Sandwich a Day: Cured Meat Sandwiches at Euro Market in Astoria

In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know.—The Mgmt.

[Photographs: Max Falkowitz]

Euro Market is one of Astoria's more charming meat-beer-import palaces. The olives are fresh and plentiful. The feta is well-traveled. And they sell seemingly every kind of jarred or bottled product from Greece, Turkey, the Balkans and beyond—everything you never knew you always needed.

Foremost among all these when you first walk in is the cured meat display in the deli case, which runs a whole side of the market. There's fresh and cured sausage, whole smoked ribs, and special cuts with storied traditions from the Balkans and beyond. Most any of these can be turned into a sandwich, which you order with whatever fillings you like. And if you aren't sure which of the six types of salami should become your lunch, just ask for a taste from the countermen; ice cream shops could learn something from service this friendly.

Salami with wine and hazelnuts.

Here's a good place to start: salami with wine and hazelnuts, sliced to order and layered with feta, lettuce, onions, oil, and vinegar (I'd add tomatoes when they don't taste like cotton). The meat itself is great: tangy and slightly oily, with the nutty-chocolate notes of hazelnut here and there. In this sandwich, feta adds creaminess and additional tang, and the lettuce and onion pick up almost briny pickled flavors from the oil and vinegar. Packed on a large roll, it's a hearty but surprisingly refreshing lunch, all for $5.50. I'll be back for the bastirma next.

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As a native of Queens, New York, Max developed an early hunger for dosas, dumplings, and Korean barbecue. Now he explores the city's evolving international food world by day and night. When not slurping noodles over a rickety table, he's in the kitchen tinkering with his ice cream maker on a never-ending quest to develop the best ice cream-making techniques.